Film Studies A level
Rebecca Nlewedim
Get Off My Land - Ralph Comparison
'Get Off My Land' and 'Ralph' are both two short films with varying themes. GOML and Ralph reflect themes of isolation and strained/complicated relationships with their partners. Ralph portrays this in a variety of different ways, one of which being the camera angles; this allowed the film to portray Ralph seemingly completely on his own throughout the opening sequence of the film, although we can see multiple background characters their faces are blurred out and not very clear. This and his wardrobe. (Very bright and very stereotypically British) emphasises to the audience his clear divide from everyone else surrounding him.
In contrast to this GOML reflects isolation in it's surroundings and interactions between its characters. By presenting the characters in an open field it already sets the tone of emptiness as the characters navigate their surroundings, this is a deliberate effect done to show the audience that even though there are two initial starting characters these characters themselves are very different in mindset and choice of action. This is made clearer when the character costumes are examined; The male is dressed in a way that isn't practical in terms of their hiking and the actor expresses this by showing irritation and constantly dusting down his clothing, these nuances are what make up a film.
Ralph shows the complex relationships in it's film in the form of a love-triangle, a popular form in film of showing the desires of various different characters and how well they connect or don't connect with other characters. Ralph also uses the nuances between characters to express emotion without the use of dialogue; this is used when the titular character Ralph is conversing with the French girl as he describes his relationship with the girl he'd initially come to Paris to meet. She smirks and the conversation dissolves into giggles, this nuance is placed to show the audience that he has now realised he misunderstood his relationship with the girl he was meant to meet and it's not as it seems to be, something that was made clear to the audience earlier on in the film but this is the moment when the character himself comes to the realisation.
In conclusion GOML and Ralph share many similarities in terms of their themes and use of camera angle for effect, while Ralph puts more stress on it's theme of isolation the relationship angle of GOML is one that isn't actually spoken about in the film but evidently obvious.
In contrast to this GOML reflects isolation in it's surroundings and interactions between its characters. By presenting the characters in an open field it already sets the tone of emptiness as the characters navigate their surroundings, this is a deliberate effect done to show the audience that even though there are two initial starting characters these characters themselves are very different in mindset and choice of action. This is made clearer when the character costumes are examined; The male is dressed in a way that isn't practical in terms of their hiking and the actor expresses this by showing irritation and constantly dusting down his clothing, these nuances are what make up a film.
Ralph shows the complex relationships in it's film in the form of a love-triangle, a popular form in film of showing the desires of various different characters and how well they connect or don't connect with other characters. Ralph also uses the nuances between characters to express emotion without the use of dialogue; this is used when the titular character Ralph is conversing with the French girl as he describes his relationship with the girl he'd initially come to Paris to meet. She smirks and the conversation dissolves into giggles, this nuance is placed to show the audience that he has now realised he misunderstood his relationship with the girl he was meant to meet and it's not as it seems to be, something that was made clear to the audience earlier on in the film but this is the moment when the character himself comes to the realisation.
In conclusion GOML and Ralph share many similarities in terms of their themes and use of camera angle for effect, while Ralph puts more stress on it's theme of isolation the relationship angle of GOML is one that isn't actually spoken about in the film but evidently obvious.
Becky it appears that you are familiar and confident with the key concepts of film studies. Your terminology and analysis is good. Moving forward please consider using more elements of CCCEO particularly context. Well Done!
ReplyDeleteOh and could you possibly stretch to including some screen grabs or even the films themselves to evidence your points that are well made.
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